Breaking Point
by Tayuna
Summary: The words slipped out of his mouth on accident. There was no taking them back now. Miyuki clenched his teeth and glanced at Izumiko to gauge her reaction. He wished he hadn't.


Miyuki winced as Izumiko rinsed his wounds with antiseptic and began bandaging them. "S-sorry," she mumbled, trying to be as gentle as she could with the dressing.

Miyuki took a sharp breath through his teeth, ignoring the feel of gauze rubbing against raw, vulnerable skin and sending shocks of pain up his arm. "It's fine," he gritted.

After finishing up, Izumiko sat silently and rigidly on the floor beside the boy. She worried her lip between her teeth, wondering what she could say to appease Miyuki's foul mood. It was obvious that he was mad at her. She messed things up for him, after all. She messed up his entire life.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked quietly after a while, staring down at her hands.

"I'm fine," he replied curtly. Truthfully, he was aching everywhere, and all his cuts and bruises were throbbing in pain. In addition to the physical pain, he was frustrated and angry. Mainly at himself. He couldn't protect her properly against the spirit that attacked her, resulting in a sprained ankle for her and a cut across her cheek. And in the end, his father Yukimasa was forced to intervene and save them both. He was going to get an earful tonight.

Minutes ticked by, and again, Izumiko spoke. "I'm sorry, Sagara-kun. I didn't mean for you to get hurt..."

"Whatever, it's fine." His tone was clipped and final. The young Mountain Monk didn't feel like arguing at the moment.

There was a knock at his bedroom door, and Yukimasa appeared in the doorway. "Miyuki," he said, his voice low and grave. "A word. Now."

Izumiko watched as Miyuki left with an annoyed and angry look on his face, shutting the door behind him. She sighed heavily. Even if there were walls and doors in between them, she could still hear the two males yelling at each other through the barriers. Yukimasa telling Miyuki that he was an inept and incompetent guard for her; Miyuki arguing with Yukimasa that he could have defeated the spirit without his help.

After stretching on for what seemed like ages, the shouting stopped, and the door opened again. The young girl quickly stood up to meet Miyuki face to face. "Sagara-kun," she began, but he only held up his hand. "Save it," he growled, "I'm not in the mood."

"Sagara-kun, I-!"

"Look, I don't want talk about it! If only I left when I had the-!"

The words slipped out of his mouth on accident. There was no taking them back now. Miyuki clenched his teeth and glanced at Izumiko to gauge her reaction.

He wished he hadn't.

She looked like an abandoned child all over again. The loneliness he saw her in eyes when they first met was back. Her cheeks were no longer the rosy color he was accustomed to seeing. She looked completely crushed.

Izumiko looked down and wrung her wrist, nails biting into her pale skin. Her eyes prickled painfully. She couldn't say anything to that. Of course not. If he had left when Yukimasa gave him the chance, he wouldn't be hurt like this. He would've been able to live a more normal life. It was all her fault.

The silence stretched on. Miyuki went to crawl into his bed, no longer able to stand comfortably. He turned his back to Izumiko, not wanting to see the hurt written all over her face. God, why was he so stubborn? Why couldn't he say anything to her?

Izumiko could only stare at his back, which seemed so far away from her now. The hand that she held onto so tightly no longer reached for her. The distance that she thought had closed opened up once again.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she opened her mouth. "Is it...really that bad to be my partner?" she asked. "To be my...boyfriend?"

Miyuki prayed that she would leave soon so that he could wallow in the ocean in guilt he was already drowning in.

"Do you...really not want to be with me anymore?"

Of course he did. God, he wanted to lock her up so that no one else could ever see her the way he did, so that no one else could look at her with amorous eyes, with lustful glances, or anything of the sort. He wanted to say _something_, but the words would not come out.

"Sagara-kun...?"

His tongue wouldn't form words.

"...I see. Okay. I'll talk to Sagara-san tomorrow. I'll make it so you won't have to see me anymore. I'm really, really sorry I got you involved with all this."

By the time he got up to stop her, the door was already closed, her footsteps quickly running to the safety of her own room.

Miyuki spent restless hours trying to fall asleep after what had transpired. He didn't chase after her when she left, because - well, face it, he didn't know what to say after being so horrible to her. Anything to deny what he said would only make it seem like he was sparing her feelings. He didn't want her to think he was being half-hearted about her.

Eventually, the teen fell asleep, but it wasn't for long. He awoke with a start, some gut feeling telling him something was off. A sense of urgency bubbled up from his stomach and into his throat as he ran from where he stayed with Yukimasa to Izumiko's room.

"Suzuhara," he called, knocking on the door. When he received no reply, he tore open the door only to be met with a sense of dread at the empty room. "Where the hell did you go?" he muttered, cursing under his breath.

Miyuki searched the entirety of the house, then ran out to the shrine. He still couldn't find her.

He was becoming more anxious by the second. A weak girl like her couldn't have gotten far with a sprained ankle. So why was she so impossible to find?

There was only one more place where she could have been. If she wasn't there, he'd have to call his father, and he _really_ didn't want to do that.

Miyuki was panting by the time he got to the top of the mountain. "Suzuhara!" There was no reply. "_Suzuhara!_" He called her name over and over, but there were no signs of her. His fear escalated to full blown panic. Just as he was about to turn back to the house-

"Sagara-kun...?"

He whirled around at the sound of Izumiko's voice. She was standing in the shadows of the tree, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "I heard you calling for me...Is something wrong?"

He couldn't believe it. He let out a short chuckle before becoming serious again. "You _idiot_!" he yelled, stomping over to where she was.

Seeing Miyuki come so aggressively towards her, Izumiko instinctively backed up. However, his hand shot out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her to his chest. "S-Sagara-kun?"

"God, you're so _stupid_," he breathed, tightening his arms around her.

She could feel his heart hammering beneath her fingertips. He smelled like the outdoors and sweat. _Was he looking for me?_ The thought warmed her chilly fingertips.

"I'm sorry for saying those things before," Miyuki apologized. "This probably sounds like an empty excuse, but I honestly didn't mean it. I don't mean a lot of the stupid things I say."

"Sagara-kun-."

"Wait, just - just let me say all of this before I chicken out. I felt horrible for ignoring you and making you cry and everything in between. Don't think that I don't want you around, don't think that everything that's happened to me is your fault."

"Sagara-kun, it's f-."

" I chose to be here with you. Only you. And if you have to believe anything that comes out of my mouth, believe that I will always be here with you. I'm not going anywhere. I can promise you that much."

Izumiko didn't know what to say. She was so happy that words weren't enough to describe how she was feeling. In an attempt to see Miyuki's face, she pulled back slightly, but his hand brought her face back to his chest. "What-?"

"Don't look at me. I...don't want you to see my face right now."

The girl smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "That's okay. We're okay now."

Miyuki tightened his arms even more and pressed his cheek against the crown of her head. Things were okay now. They were okay. And that was all he needed.

**~Bonus~**

"By the way," Miyuki added, "why were you outside at a time like this?"

Izumiko blushed. "Ah...I actually couldn't sleep after we fought so...I went to take a walk and came out here to clear my head. I guess I feel asleep out here, too..."

His eye twitched. "You really are stupid, aren't you?" His words came out more like a statement than a question. With a gallant sounding sigh, he gathered her back into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll...ignore it this time. But if I find you sleeping out here again, I'll really lock you up."

"Huh?"

"Er, nothing, it's nothing."


End file.
